Nov. 6, 2010
Box Score
BILLINGS, Mont. - Outside hitter Megan Amundson (Sr., Stanwood) had match highs of 10 kills and three service aces and middle blocker Emily Jepsen (Jr., Kennewick/Kamiakin) added nine kills on .471 hitting and three blocks as nationally ranked Western Washington University bounced back with a 25-9, 25-19, 25-12 sweep of Montana State University Billings in a Great Northwest Athletic Conference volleyball match Saturday at Alterowitz Gymnasium.
It was Western's quickest match of the season, taking just 1:02 to complete.
The Vikings, ranked No.13 in this week's American Volleyball Coaches Association/NCAA Division II Top 25 Poll and No.2 in the West Region, improved to 17-3 overall and remained second in the GNAC at 14-2.
Western had suffered a four-set loss at nationally No.18 Seattle Pacific on Thursday. The setback snapped an eight-match winning streak and vaulted the Falcons back atop the GNAC standings.
MSUB, which got team highs of nine kills and 11 digs from Jennifer Boe, fell to 5-21 overall and 5-12 in GNAC action.
"Our goal tonight was to go out and have a good team win and we did that," said Western coach Diane Flick (11th year), who notched her 230th career win. "We played at a composed level and executed very efficiently."
Outside hitter Marlayna Geary (So., Tacoma/Bellarmine Prep) had seven kills with a .455 attack percentage for the Vikings, who got a match-high 16 digs from libero Allison Gotz (Sr., Bothell/Archbishop Murphy). Jordyn Bailey (Sr., Wenatchee) had 11 digs and setter Kari Rice (Sr., Toppenish/Eisenhower) contributed 32 assists and three blocks.
The Vikings scored nine straight points for a 21-8 lead in taking set one. Kathryn Mertens (Sr., Olympia) had two kills and Gotz two aces during that run.
Mertens and Bailey Jones (So., Mukilteo/Kamiak) each had two kills as Western scored four consecutive points for a 14-8 lead and the Vikings never led by less than five after that.
In set three, six straight points, five on the serve of Haleigh Adkins (Jr., Puyallup/Rogers) gave Western an insurmountable 20-9 lead in closing out the match. Amundson had two kills during that run.
Western returns home for its final two regular-season matches, entertaining Central Washington on Thursday (7 p.m.) and Northwest Nazarene on Saturday (7 p.m.) in a pair of GNAC counters.
